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India Likely to Retain Top Rice Exporter Status in 2013, Says FAO

India Likely to Retain Top Rice Exporter Status in 2013, Says FAO

India is expected to become the world’s largest rice exporter for the second consecutive year in 2013, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which revised upward India’s 2013 rice export forecast to around 8.3 million tons, up about 10% from January estimates of around 7.5 million tons.

The FAO said that the 2013 rice export forecast for India was increased in line with upward revisions by the Indian government for 2012 rice production to around 101.8 million tons, referring to the second advance estimates released by the Indian government in February. However, according to the third advance estimate released by India last week, rice production in 2012 is estimated even higher at around 104 million tons of milled rice.

The FAO says that Vietnam with around 7.8 million tons of rice exports and Thailand with around 7.7 million tons of rice exports are likely to remain the second and third largest rice exporters in 2013. India was the largest rice exporter in 2012, exporting about 10.3 million tons of rice, ahead of Vietnam (around 7.7 million tons) and Thailand (around 7 million tons).

The FAO also revised upward 2012 global paddy rice production by almost one million tons since January estimates to around 731.2 million tons (about 487.5 million tons, milled basis). Paddy rice production in 2013 is forecast at around 746.7 million tons (about 497.7 million tons, milled basis), up about 2% or around 16 million tons from 2012.